Noah was staring at me with his mouth gaping open. His eyes never blinked and I was sure that he had gone into shock. I had just divulged the news of my dream to him. We were perched on the bleachers, Noah was wearing a fluffy coat and some warm mittens. Every now and then the wind would whip past us making him shiver.

Rolling my eyes, I snapped my fingers in front of his face. When that didn't work, I clasped my hands together mere inches away from his nose.

Noah jumped back startled and slammed his jaw shut, "Really Syd, was that necessary?"

"Well you looked catatonic, I didn't know what else to do," I said.

"Let's see if I got this right, Dr. Benette tries to eat you alive. Then Miranda, who is also the mother of your best friend, tries to bury you alive," Noah paused and shook his head, "Either this is karma or you're just really unlucky."

"Thank you for that accurate summary but, I really don't think Leah has nothing to do with this," I said in defense of my best friend.

I might not have been a hundred percent sure but I've known Leah for a long time. She was not a part of this. It's not like kids always know what goes on in their parent's jobs anyway.

"We can't just ignore the fact that Miranda tried to kill you, what happens if she recognizes you next time?"

"Noah, I was eaten halfway and covered in dirt. I'm sure my own mother wouldn't have recognized me," I countered back, "besides, I don't really want to have the next time."

The shrill sound of the school bell echoed across the field, snapping my attention away from Noah. I sighed, the last thing I wanted to think about was school. Getting up to leave Noah grabbed my hand halting my motion.

"Remember we're meeting Peter in the library after school."

I nodded my head and walked back to the school building. Ambling through the school hallway, I saw multiple self-made posters for the winter formal on the walls. They were plastered all over the school, some even made it all the way to the girl's bathroom. I could never understand the appeal of dressing up in freezing weather let alone dancing.

Then there were my friends who for some reason all believed Noah would ask me. I wasn't the most religious person but at that moment, I started praying really hard that they were just blowing smoke. On top of everything that was happening, toss in my constant awkward behavior and that was a recipe for disaster. So, I decided I was going to do what I do best. Ignore it.

After school Noah was already sitting in his truck waiting for me. I quickly hopped in and tossed my book bag next to my feet. My stomach was rolling in uncomfortable waves. I knew it was only my guilt and I was also scared that Peter would find out. I should be the one to tell him, but how would I even say it? 

I killed your sister because she tried to eat Noah. 

Somehow, I didn't see that approach working and there seemed to be no other way to explain the whole thing to him without him trying to chop my head off at some point.

"Okay, so I figured this was clear but let me just say it again. I do not trust Peter. We need to be careful about how much information we give him." Noah said.

He put the key in the ignition, turning it twice before the truck sputtered to life and I took three deep breaths to calm myself. This whole thing with Peter seemed to be bothering Noah more than me and I couldn't understand it. Safe to say, I didn't understand boys at all. 

"I know and I agree. If he knows everything he might do something stupid,"

Noah grinned at me and my heart started doing somersaults. I shook my head, trying to get rid of my stray thoughts. 

This is stupid! When did I turn into the blushing teenage girl?

When Noah pulled up in the parking lot, I quickly got out of the now too stuffy cab. Inside Peter was already waiting for us, slumped in a chair with his feet propped up on the table while he typed away on his phone. I rolled my eyes, typical guy. Not a care in the world. When we reached him, Noah, kicked his chair and much to his dismay, Peter didn't even flinch. He simply looked up from his phone, giving Noah a cocky smirk and used his free hand to give us a mock salute.

"I was wondering when you guys would show up, I actually thought you had homework to do."

Noah scoffed and took a seat on the opposite end of the table. I stood looking at the two guys deciding I would take the seat at the end just in case. This was a way too much macho testosterone for me and their bickering was starting to get on my nerves. 

"So this information you supposedly have, can we see it now or do you still need a moment?" Noah asked not breaking eye contact with Peter.

Peter pulled out a worn leather-bound book from his bag. The pages had turned yellow and when he opened it I noticed that some of the ink had stained.

"This was my sister's journal, it's not much but there are some things in here that might help."

Peter made a show of passing the book to Noah but ended up shoving it into my hands. I shot an annoyed look at Peter. When I looked to Noah I saw that this small action had the desired effect. Noah's jaw was clenched so tight that I could almost hear his teeth crack.

I just shook my head, boys. Flipping the book over to the first page I read the faded letters on the first page. Emilia Benette. The name itself twisted the knife even further in my heart, solidifying my guilt.

Swallowing the lump in my throat I move on, some of the entries were viciously scribbled down, making the words nearly illegible. Other places were neat and written in a calm hand but it was the last entry that caught my attention.

It wasn't a sentence per-say more like key thoughts hastily written down. Things like 'Stop Biotech', 'reverse the serum's effect', and 'matched DNA not found'. At the bottom of the page, she had written a big 'How' with a question mark and encircled the word numerous times.

It was the date that gave me pause, November tenth, 2005. She had disappeared later that same month. We had some information but without details, we were left with more questions than answers.

"Found anything?" Noah asked.

"Nothing that can actually help. It's just a few suspicions she had but nothing concrete. We'll have to go through the entry by entry. Some of the entries are smudged so it's gonna take time," I looked at Peter, "do you mind if I hold on to this for a bit?"

Peter looked like he wanted to object but ended up nodding his head. I slipped the book into my bag and prayed that I was able to find something concrete in the scribbles. 

"I thought you said you had information? You don't even know what's in there so how do you expect us to know?" Noah hissed, balling his first on top of the table.

"That's because I thought you two would know what it means, some of what she wrote related to her last project with Biotech."

Noah threw his hand up, "Obviously not," he stood up and held his hand out to me "Come on Syd, we're leaving."

My jaw almost unhinged at that. What the actual hell was up with Noah? He was never this harsh but Peter just seemed to bring out a side of him that I didn't really like. I get that we shouldn't just trust him, but come on we were his only link to his sister he had.

I leveled my gaze at Noah, "Sit down. You might not get it now but this could be valuable information down the line and we would be stupid to ignore it. I never said there wasn't anything in the journal, I said it's going to take some time."

"Look, I know you don't trust me and frankly I don't trust you either. But with or without you I am going to find out what happened to my sister."

Peter's jaw was set and he gave Noah a withering glare. He plopped back down in his chair but avoided making eye contact with me. I did feel bad for lashing out at Noah but his behavior towards Peter made no sense.

"Miranda Freeman is the head of Biotech she lives here in Brookfield," Noah said. 

Peter's eyes went wide and I fought the urge to strangle Noah. I knew to give this type of information to someone as reckless as Peter would not bode well for us in the long run. 

"And you're just telling me this now?" Peter asked narrowing his eyes a Noah. 

"Well yes, we only just met you and I don't trust you."

"Fair enough, so why are you telling me now?"

"She has a home office and if we can get in..." Noah let the rest of his sentence trail off.

They couldn't possibly be considering this, what the hell had gotten into Noah. They were discussing a crime. Peter was reckless enough to do it but what about Noah or had he just lost his mind? 

Peter thought it over and nodded his head, "Okay, but when should we sneak in."

Noah's smile split into a wicked grin, "The night of the winter formal."

I mentally started beating myself with a shovel. No, no and no! This can't be happening. But apparently, Noah didn't see the little mental breakdown I was having since he just went on.

"Syd will get the code from Leah and give it to you. She and I will go to the dance and make sure Leah stays there. That should give you enough time to get in and out"

"And what about the good doctor?" Peter asked.

"Are you two crazy, we're talking about breaking and entering private property, do you even hear yourselves right now?

Was I the only sane one here? We were really talking about breaking and entering into someones home.

Peter looked at me, "Do you have a better idea? Because from where I'm sitting it seems like you're running out of time to be cautious."

I clenched my jaw shut. This was a bad idea and was bound to come back and haunt us. They were right though, it was only a matter of time before I lost control and hurt someone but that didn't mean I was comfortable with committing a crime. 

"Besides the good Doctor is never home from what I hear, we'll be in and out without anyone knowing," Noah said.

I shot him an irritated look but his face remained impassive. In his eyes, I saw a storm raging on that I matched with my own glare. 

"Good, now we have a plan. When is this dance?"

"In three weeks," I breathed out.

Peter drummed his long fingers on the table, "That gives us enough time to get everything together." he grabbed his bag and sauntered out of the library.

Why was it that whenever we spoke to Peter, Noah and I ended up in awkward silence?

"I'm not going to fight with you Syd, I just wish you would trust me."

"This isn't about trust Noah. We need his help and he needs us, it's that simple. Besides, you're the one who gave way too much information and now I'm forced to lie to Leah, again. And break into her house!"

"You're the one who wants to trust Peter, so that's what I'm doing."

"By breaking into Leah's house?"

"By finding out what's going on. We know Dr. Freeman in involved and I can bet you she has more information than Peter."

I sighed, "I'm sorry Noah, I know you don't trust Peter. But we can't do this on our own anymore."

I took a hold of his hand and he laced his fingers through mine. A jolt of pure electricity traveled up my spine at the contact, leaving me more than confused.

"I know."

After a few minutes of silence, we got up to leave. We didn't speak until we reached my house.

I looked at Noah and was surprised to find him with a face-splitting grin.

"So, looks like we'll be going to winter formal together." he wriggled his brows suggestively.

Gawking at him, I smacked his arm. My cheeks started heating up and I glared at Noah. He dissolved into a fit of laughter, deciding I had enough I jumped out of the truck grabbing my bag.

I yelled goodbye to Noah as his laughter followed me inside. Running up the stairs and even skipping a few. I must have miscalculated my last step because before I reached the top, I crashed into the floor.

Great, now I'm a clumsy and blushing teenage zombie, I thought miserably.

I sat on the last step, mulling over the events that have led to all of this. Silently cursing whatever deity I had been praying to. 

"Syd, are you okay honey?" my mom's came up.

I locked my eyes with her and shook my head. Where did I even begin?

"I'm going to winter formal with Noah," I said in a flat tone.

As if a said deity wasn't done with me yet, my mother squealed, nearly making my ears bleed. I'm glad she was enjoying herself.

"Oh, sweetie that's great news!"

She clasped her hands together and started babbling on about dressed and how Noah was going to look in a tux. I mostly tuned her out. That was the least of my worries.